[Sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer]

Abstract

Complete axillary lymph node dissection has been the traditional operation to determine whether cancer has spread beyond the breast. In the large majority of patients with breast cancer, lymphatic mapping and γ-probe-guided and/or blue dye sentinel node biopsy can be used to locate the first node in the axilla, and thereby provide important information about the status of axillary nodes. Patients without clinical involvement of the axilla should undergo sentinel node biopsy routinely. Thus, they may be spared complete axillary dissection if the sentinel node is negative. Decreased arm swelling and pain are associated with sentinel lymph node biopsy compared with axillary lymph node dissection.